Is there a tribe for Registered Nurses? - Page 2

[Eeyore_fan]

I am a new RN (became one in June and started working as one in August). I definitely did not go into nursing for the money or the job stability. In fact, I was probably so naive that I didn't even realize those were perks to the career when I first considering nursing. I knew I wanted to go into the health field during the latter years of high school because of personal experiences of being a patient and becoming very interested in health and medicine. I was quite involved in my care and did research on conditions I had and loved it.

Being a new nurse is hard. There is a big learning curve, and it is stressful at times, but I am so thankful for my job. You also need to take care of yourself so that you can take care of others. That is why I try to take a lunch break each day when I am at work. If I am feeling crabby/tired/shaky because I didn't get to eat, then that is not going to help my patients. Sorry for the tangent, but I really believe in taking a lunch break. Also, it's very helpful to have a good orientation and co-workers.

I am hoping to go to grad school next year to become a CNM or a women's health care nurse practitioner, possibly specializing in providing care to adolescent females. I am also maybe thinking of becoming a sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE).

Originally Posted by marilynmama

Have you been to allnurses.com? Its an excellent resource.

Marilyn,
As I was reading your reply, I was thinking, hmm, this poster sounds familiar. Both with your username and what areas you had worked in and were currently working in. I want to take a wild guess that you are marilynmom on Allnurses.com? If so, I recognize you because you recently posted a reply to "How Many Patients Each Shift?" that was right after me (my username is Sehsun on there). And I think I remembered this because adolescent psych is a field that I am very interested in.

[klt]

I am currently debating whether to stay in my Nursing program; I start my third semester in one week. I have been in school for a solid year, so I guess I am just burned out. Three week break isn't long enough, but when I think of the stress to come w/the new semester I just shudder.

I am really afraid once I become a Nurse that things will be the same. I am a single mom to a really bright 4 year old and this past year I have had to deligate care to so many other people; I really lost touch with him. Granted, he is in a wonderful preK and has wonderful grandparents who care for him all the nights and mornings I am at the hospital. But I do not see how this can continue once I am a Nurse with 3 or 4 12-hour shifts per week schedule. Who will watch my son when I leave at 6AM or do overnights?

Balancing home and work is always super important. But Nursing has this stress element that I have never experienced anywhere before. I used to work in film production in Chicago so am used to working 18 hour/days with lots of demanding people and deadlines. But with Nursing I have a hard time seeing how to balance schedule with home life. Nursing school is super, unrealistcally demanding (but it needs to be b/c it's only 2years) but like one poster said, once you are done there is the stress of the new job and a big learning curve.

Anyway, I'll keep reading the posts for more insight. I really need to find out the scheudle to expect once I am a Nurse, as I am worried I won't be able to work the hours due to my son (who drives him to school in the AM, who picks him up from after care and watches him till I come home at 8PM? 11PM?) I'm just worried.
xoxox

[lorijds]

Whomever watches your son now will watch him when you are working.

As a full time nurse you will only work 3 12 hour shifts a week (if you work in the hospital setting). 4, if you want the extra hours and your facility offers overtime.

You have so much more time after you graduate, it's amazing. I don't think the stress level goes down a *whole* lot, though, because I think there is quite a bit of stress on new grads initially. You don't have this ever present amount of work you must complete, though. You are either at work, or you aren't. No additional reading, assignments, cramming for tests.

Most single moms I work with who work overnights either have a grandmother who lives with them, or their ex has the kids on the nights (and subsequent days) that they work. The single moms I work with who work days either take their kids somewhere before school, or have someone come to their house to watch them before school. Most have someone who provides after-school care, either a grandparent or a paid provider. Again, some have their ex have the kids on those days.

I hope you don't give up. There are some awesome job opportunities as a nurse. Doctors offices and health clinics typically have more traditional 8-5 hours, and some nursing home and hospitals still run on the 8 hour shift schedule.

Do what you have to do. But know that nursing school is not like working as a nurse, and that working as a nurse does get easier over time.

[marilynmama]

Originally Posted by Eeyore_fan

Marilyn,
As I was reading your reply, I was thinking, hmm, this poster sounds familiar. Both with your username and what areas you had worked in and were currently working in. I want to take a wild guess that you are marilynmom on Allnurses.com? If so, I recognize you because you recently posted a reply to "How Many Patients Each Shift?" that was right after me (my username is Sehsun on there). And I think I remembered this because adolescent psych is a field that I am very interested in.

Yep, that's me!!

[half-pigeon]

I graduated last May from nursing school, had a baby in july & just now am looking for work. i'd love to hear tips from other nurse moms of young babies. anyone a breastfeeding mom while working as a nurse?

can anyone post a link to the nurses forum on mdc?

[cileag]

I'm an OB nurse who has to return back to working rotating day/night 12 hour shifts in 5 weeks, leaving my then 14 week old with my husband and sister. I'm excited to go back since I really love my job (although hospital politics and policies drive me crazy) but I'm worried about so many things like maintaining my milk supply and nursing relationship, my husband adjusting to staying at home, the reaction I'll get for having a home birth from my peers, working nights and getting sleep when I'm home....whew!

Anyway, I'm working on it all.

[an_aurora]

I start nursing school TOMORROW! I am so stoked

[Ceinwen]

Originally Posted by an_aurora

I start nursing school TOMORROW! I am so stoked

You will LOVE it! Truly, nursing is amazing! I love being a trauma nurse!

[crazymom03]

i love this thread.

half-pigeon, i'm in your boat. i graduated in may and had a baby in oct and now am looking for work. i'm stressed on how to manage working and my baby. i don't want to compromise my nursing relationship...

i found an entry into practice job on an ob floor in a baby-friendly hosp, i want to apply for it but i have no milk stored in the freezer and my lo won't take a bottle yet. what to do?? i might just apply for it and go from there. the thought of twelve hour shifts worry me...

[choosewisdom]

Originally Posted by crazymom03

i want to apply for it but i have no milk stored in the freezer and my lo won't take a bottle yet. what to do?? i might just apply for it and go from there. the thought of twelve hour shifts worry me...

Sounds like it is time to start eating your oatmeal, drink lots of fluid, get some rest, take your fenugreek, and pump, pump, pump. Make sure that someone else is offering the bottle when baby is hungry, because some little ones will not take a bottle from mommy (they are smart and know she has something better, if they just hold out )

[lorijds]

Originally Posted by crazymom03

i found an entry into practice job on an ob floor in a baby-friendly hosp, i want to apply for it but i have no milk stored in the freezer and my lo won't take a bottle yet. what to do?? i might just apply for it and go from there. the thought of twelve hour shifts worry me...

Apply for it. Of all places, OB is going to be the most pumper friendly.

Where I work, all hospital employees can use the pump station up on OB. We have our own pump parts, and use the hospital grade pumps. It was great.

My dh would bring my baby up for lunch for the first 9 months or so. So I would pump 1-2 during my shift, and then nurse her once. It worked well.

[half-pigeon]

Originally Posted by cileag

I'm an OB nurse who has to return back to working rotating day/night 12 hour shifts in 5 weeks, leaving my then 14 week old with my husband and sister. I'm excited to go back since I really love my job (although hospital politics and policies drive me crazy) but I'm worried about so many things like maintaining my milk supply and nursing relationship, my husband adjusting to staying at home, the reaction I'll get for having a home birth from my peers, working nights and getting sleep when I'm home....whew!

Anyway, I'm working on it all.

you bring up a lot of issues that i anticpate- day/night rotation, milk supply & nursing relationship. i'd LOVE to work in OB, but keep imaging my homebirth being looked down upon & god forbid if it comes up in the interview.

crazymom- you should go for it. at least apply & see what happens.

[crazymom03]

i did end up applying for the job but i ended up having to save my application and come back to it (kids) and when i came back to do it it was gone --i called hr and hopefully she'll still let me apply. it's so funny because i finally made up my mind to do it and was so gunhoe about it and poof it was gone

good luck to all the others starting school/work soon!!

[ocelotmom]

Originally Posted by Ceinwen

You will LOVE it! Truly, nursing is amazing! I love being a trauma nurse!

And if you don't love nursing school (especially first semester), that's ok too! I know lots of nurses who say they hated the school but love their jobs.

[Nitenites]

Originally Posted by lorijds

Apply for it. Of all places, OB is going to be the most pumper friendly.

Where I work, all hospital employees can use the pump station up on OB. We have our own pump parts, and use the hospital grade pumps. It was great.

My dh would bring my baby up for lunch for the first 9 months or so. So I would pump 1-2 during my shift, and then nurse her once. It worked well.

I'm wondering about getting pregnant while in school. I'm wondering if I'll get adequate time to pump during clinicals. (No, I'm not pregnant right now, but this is the longest stretch I've had between babies since my first was born...)

[Peony]

When I went to nursing school, we had several babies born in the class during the school years. It was rough on the moms. They had to come back to class right away, like the next week. The babies couldn't come to class, I remember going to the bathroom during a lecture and seeing one of the moms in a different room pumping away for her 2 week old back at home. They was given no extra breaks to pump, they would have to leave class to pump since the breaks were not enough and then ask for notes from someone else. Clinicals were tough because the more advanced in the studies we became, the more independent we were at the hospital in the patient's care. As a beginning student nurse it is easier to get breaks when you are really just shadowing a nurse.


In my nursing school at least, you got no special treatment for being pg or having a little baby. Honestly, the vibe I got from the professors and instructors towards those moms was not a pleasant one, kind of like "you did this, now deal with it yourself". I always felt very sorry for them, I was childless at that point.

[ocelotmom]

Originally Posted by Nitenites

I'm wondering about getting pregnant while in school. I'm wondering if I'll get adequate time to pump during clinicals. (No, I'm not pregnant right now, but this is the longest stretch I've had between babies since my first was born...)

I don't know how it works in other schools, but in my school, we get a 15 minute break during six hour clinicals, and a 15 minute break plus lunch during eight hour clinicals. We are told that we must take this time to show that we have effective time management. Reality is that many days this just isn't happening, despite what we're told.

Most nursing schools seem to be very unforgiving towards pregnancy. If you have to take more than the allotted time off (in my school, a week's worth of class and a clinical), you're out for the semester. You have the baby, and you're back in clinicals the next week, and that sort of thing. There are people who manage it, but it doesn't seem to me like a good thing to plan for.

[lorijds]

I would highly recommend you NOT get pregnant during nursing school. Most schools do not allow you to miss much lecture time each semester--maybe 2-3 days tops. They do not expand this for pregnancy. If you have a pregnancy complication, you drop out. If you need more than one week off post birth, you drop out. This is somewhat justified--the learning is very intense. You cannot possibly miss a month of school and make it up. You would flunk. It's better for you to drop out and restart in a year.

You do not get additional breaks at clinicals. Partially this is because clinical time is mandated by the state. Most schools put in the bare minimum of clinicals, with only one or two days leeway. Even the hours within the day count. So if you miss more than 2 clinical days, or you take an hour worth of breaks more than your classmates during each clinical day, you aren't fulfilling the state's time requirement for clinicals, and therefore you don't even qualify for graduation and to sit for boards.

If you get pregnant during nursing school, to some degree you are doing this to yourself. Accidents happen, but then you have to take responsibility for it. The nursing school part of any nursing degree is two years. Wait those two years, get pregnant later. I would avoid pregnancy in nursing school at all costs.

[Lilacmoon]

I've been a nurse for over 14 yrs... and no matter how hard it gets, how deep the politics and BS is, I love being a nurse!
Don't always like my job but, I Love My Career!
The majority of my career has been spent in the CCU and ED. I'm a trauma junkie and the challenges of critical care have kept me on my toes. I am always learning something new.
I am starting a new leg of my journey. I start FNP next month and my goal is to attend Vanderbilt for the DNP program.
If you think that nursing is your calling, I would suggest working as a CNA in a hospital setting or even a phlebotomist will give you exposure to the profession. As the previous poster noted, there is such dicotomy, there is something for every temperment.
Good Luck!

[Lucky Charm]

I am a Flight RN and absolutely LOVE IT
Since 1996 I have worked Critical Care: ER/ICU/CVICU...I never did "floor nursing".

My last baby was born in 1998....did just fine, nursed like a champ, I was able to pump at work (not as much as I liked, but was able to keep up with babe). I worked nights, and tag teamed with my now ex husband.

I have three kids...the older two are in college, my daughter being in the nursing program. She has seen the good and the bad, but wants to be like her mom and is excited and passionate and will be great. My son is in pre-med, wants to be an emergency physician. He too has come to work, as seen the good, the bad, the boring but wants to be a MD

Being a single parent, I schedule my days/nights around my youngests visitation with his dad. I have my mom who is a full time grandma to help pinch hit.

I have life insurance to cover expences so the kids dont have to move.

All my bases are covered.
Nursing not only gives me the ability to care for my family "in the style in which they have become accustomed"...but feed the adrenaline junkie in my. It also feeds my soul, keeps me sane and alows me the honor to be a part of a family's life.

I have no regrets and would recommend this profession to anyone looking to make a difference in the life of another.